Sasuke/Sakura are the worst pairing of Naruto. Hinata/Naruto are a close second. Neither couple was developed at all. And the one pairing that would have made sense (Naruto/Sakura) didn't happen.
It's a shounen, they don't really do romance that well.
Also, N/S didn't make sense, it's just what people wanted because of action hero movie reasons. Just because the MC wanted someone, doesn't mean he always gets them. It actually makes more sense that he found someone who's interested in him. Although I am a Naru/Saku fan.
Also this had a chance to diverge from canon, as putting a competent Naruto on the same team as the
#2 rookie doesn't make sense. I guess that would have thrown the story off too far, though.